We ain't running out of no stinking oil!

   Ahem: In the news are exasperated pro-oil types that rant about there being no lack of oil available; stating that the available "reserves" and still undiscovered oil available which are sufficient to satisfy the greediest good oil boys n girls for centuries.

   In truth, it is a more or less correct factoid that we are NOT running out of oil at this time. What's being overlooked is that the barrels per year increase of oil pumped out of the ground is in still in decline since a decade ago; however stocks of oil are approaching glut proportions but that is laid squarely at the feet of we who are cutting  back on our consumption of its distilled products such as diesel fuel and gasoline. 

   A goodly number of Americans have rerouted their consumption to thriftier auto's and reduced discretionary spending on fuel and by staying home a lot more (thus making home entertainment a banner year last year) or moving closer to their workplace to reduce their commute and impacting the urbane sprawl and new home building market to some degree. Indeed the local paper has touted the resurgence of formerly blighted inner city areas by the jump in loft apartments and converted warehouse into condominiums populated by Gen Y'ers and Millenials, making it possible for thousands of former commuters to peddle to work or ride the street car or bus to there.

   What's being overlooked is that it is no longer possible for one to kick over a clod and bring in a gusher of the black gold that used make $235 bucks per wildcat dollar in profit as it travels through various streams into "higher" grade byproducts. The recent discovery of an astounding sized "oil reserve" in the Gulf of Mexico is a classic example of the the availability of oil "still out there waiting to be found." Umm, has anyone figured out how much it's going to cost to build a floating platform able to safely maintain its position over the oil reserves in deepwater, open seaways in the face of hurricanes; drill to 35,000 feet to tap into the top of the dome of this shale oil; to extract it via fracturing and pump it to the surface and load it onto ships bound for refinery's?

   And secondarily, this oil which will be in production in about ten years, is still only a fraction of the 3% total US Market oil produced in and used by Americans. The reason that we import 97% of our oil is that the imported oil is still cheaper and easier to get to the surface and into tankers bound for US refineries folks, precisely because oil has to be ever higher in price for it to be profitable to drill and pump it. That price, based on world wide demand is currently somewhere in the $65 buck a barrel range it would seem. (A decade ago crude was around $35.00 USD per barrel. Remember, it was the spiraling price of crude that triggered the U.S. economic melt down powered by $145.00 per barrel prices that we are still recovering from and it is only Americans <with the rest of the world following our lead> with the sense to cut back on our discretionary consumption of energy which has dropped the price of fuel and stabilized the economy, so far; That is in spite of the economic bail out headlines taking the credit. Shoot, even my insurance broker has a Smart Car for his commute to his offices, now.).

   Meanwhile China and India and a number of other sleeping giant middle class auto buyers world wide continue to grow at rates that outstrip US ability to compete for market share, while our dollars get less and less valuable due to the enormous debt being deeded over to those several other countries. And never forget, oil IS the gold standard of the world because it is the tremendous markup from crude to products that drives it as a major commodity that is getting more and more costly to extract from mother Earth and on its way to market.

   Meanwhile, once again, the good oil boys have tried to flourish the red cape in front of our consuming eyes to distract us from the fact that we need to be firm in our resolve to make carbon fuels of all types only a dwindling part of a triad of energy. We really need to convert to none-carbon, renewable fuels as fast as we can manage it; with electric battery power as fuel as a major change away from Detroit pig-iron cars and trucks belching fumes rich with greenhouse gases.

   Whew

  From the desktop of Warren Richardson   pro-active advocate
  for conversion to energy alternatives and carbon footprint reduction.
  Moderator of http://dfw-alt-e-caucus.blogspot.com/ Web Blog and the

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